Caribbean tourism is flourishing despite the fear that a huge increase in airfares would thwart the region’s post-pandemic recovery.
That’s reflected by the expansion of Caribbean flight schedules as major carriers and regional airlines continue to add seats as demand booms.
Expanding Caribbean air routes align with global market trends. Worldwide demand for air travel grew throughout the first half of 2023, according to the International Air Transport Association (IATA).
Tourism officials in Barbados, Dominica, Curacao, the Cayman Islands, St Lucia, Antigua and Barbuda, Trinidad and Tobago, the Dominican Republic, Grenada, Jamaica and Puerto Rico have announced new flights from major carriers so far this year. Several regional carriers have also launched routes connecting lesser-visited islands with regional hubs.
JetBlue has continued expanding its Caribbean flight schedule this year, announcing new weekly Grenada flights from Boston that started in June and last month launched year-round flights between Puerto Rico and North Carolina.
JetBlue is also expanding its Barbados service this fall, launching a second weekly flight from Boston Logan International Airport to Grantley Adams International Airport beginning Nov. 1. The new Wednesday departures will join the airline’s existing Boston-Barbados flights departing Saturdays.
JetBlue earlier this year expanded its Barbados service from New York. United Airlines is also adding new Barbados departures this year.
United has additionally expanded its service to Jamaica. United will launch weekly nonstop flights to Jamaica’s Sangster International Airport from Denver in November.
New flights are also scheduled for some southern Caribbean destinations. United Airlines will add two additional weekly departures between Newark International Airport and Bonaire’s Flamingo International Airport to visit Curacao.
From September, Delta Air Lines will launch the carrier’s first flights to Curaçao since 2007.
American Airlines officials are also citing “growing demand” behind their move to expand the carrier’s Curaçao flights from weekly to daily nonstop flights from Douglas International Airport between December and April 2024.
Many of the new flights are part of expanded intra-Caribbean service, which by extension provide additional options for all travellers in the region.
Cayman Airways will expand its regional operations with the launch of direct flights between the Owen Roberts International Airport and Barbados’ Grantley Adams International Airport this fall.
The new flights are “part of our broader route diversification strategy aimed at expanding global connectivity and maximizing” the government-owned airline’s fleet, said Tourism Minister Kenneth Bryan. He is pleased that visitors will enjoy tourism hotspots like Stingray City, Seven Mile Beach and Pedro St James.
The twice-weekly flights will begin October 18, pending regulatory approvals. Bryan said Cayman Airways is “looking to add” service to two additional US destinations by the end of the year.
Earlier this year, InterCaribbean Airways added new aircraft and launched an expanded flight schedule servicing Antigua, Barbados, Dominica, Grenada, Guyana, St Lucia and St Vincent and the Grenadines.
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